Player collectors: a Topps Vault "what would you do?" question

[TNP777]

Sometime today the Topps Vault listed 5 different "1986 Topps Baseball Slide Negative" items. They are described thusly:

Circa 1986 Topps Baseball Original Slide Negative! Brett Butler. In the coming months, The Topps Vault will be offering a random selection of vintage color photography hand-picked from the legendary Topps photo archives. All of these classic images were shot by official Topps photographers but, for reasons unknown, failed to make the cut, and thus, never appeared on a vintage Topps trading card. The color slide offered here measures the standard 2" X 2" and is in excellent condition. Player name is inscribed onto the white area of the slide.

So the dilemma is this: none of these pictures ever made it onto a card, but they are sorta unique in that they come from the Vault. What would you guys do? I'm leaning towards "pass", simply because at $10 a pop (assuming they go for the opening bid), that's $50 for items that don't have anything to do with a released card.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-Topps-...1113279359?pt=US_Baseball&hash=item2ed3491b7f

 

[Gwynn545]

I agree with "pass". I love Topps Vault stuff, but the appeal to me is the connection to actual cards.

 

[predatorkj]

Not to sound like a jerk but do you really have a lot of stuff you still need that's even available? I mean stuff you can actively buy right this very minute for Butler? If not...why not go for these?

 

[Hawk8]

They did the same thing for Dawson. 2 from 85 and 2 from 78 and I also have not decided what to do with them yet.

 

[Hendersonfan]

Have someone make a custom using that slide. Can also blow up into 8x10.

 

[mrmopar]

I try for the Garvey negatives, but they usually go for more than i feel they are worth, given they are simply random photo negatives. I try harder for those that match specific issues, but for whatever reason, these are even more popular than the proof cards often??? I have maybe a half dozen of the 20-30 or more i have seen listed for sale.

Bottom line, if I can get them for $10-20, I may add them, otherwise i watch them go into someone else's collection.

 

[DaClyde]

For me, I guess it depends on which player it was. If it was for Dave Winfield, absolutely not. There are still way too many cards below that price that I still need instead of chasing the super-oddball production material stuff. But if it was for Hensley Meulens or Bernardo Brito, I'd probably snap it up in a heartbeat because I'm pretty much at the end of the line on both of them.

 

[Brewer Andy]

I wouldn't be interested personally, I gotta draw the line somewhere

 

[gmarutiak]

Get them.

 

[MansGame]

Topps Vault stuff sucks. Not a fan of any of it. Period.


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Buying Albert Belle cards! PM me!

 

[TNP777]

Not to sound like a jerk but do you really have a lot of stuff you still need that's even available? I mean stuff you can actively buy right this very minute for Butler? If not...why not go for these?

You don't sound like a jerk at all, and it's a valid question. There isn't a single thing out there that is available that I need, so I do find myself almost inventing things to collect. That's why I started my Butler registry. I'm a huge fan of the Vault, so I normally would be all over anything they put up. These're neat, so I might just see what happens.

Topps Vault stuff sucks. Not a fan of any of it. Period.

I'm surprised to hear anyone say this. I have picked up so many cool items from the Vault, almost all of them directly related to released cards.

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111032




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Buying Albert Belle cards! PM me![/QUOTE]

 

[gracecollector]

$10 each is pretty high in my opinion. I've bought Pacific and Topp slides in the $3-$5 range for Grace. If no one bids on the Topps Vault stuff (which may be the case with Butler), they often relist them at a lower price. I didn't bite on these match proof photos at $10 each, but last week they marked them down to $5.97 for the pair, and so I bought them.

1995 Bowman's Best Match Proofs

used to make this card:

 

[HumbleBob]

To me it is just a picture. I would have no desire to add it to my Julio Franco PC

 

[MansGame]

I bought a "proof" off eBay from those clowns and when I got it, the item was literally just a printing piece of paper with a picture of the card on one side. It was as thin as a piece of a magazine page or something. I could make those myself and sell... just crap.

I suppose if you got a one of a kind piece or a film or something, that's cool but otherwise, I think 99% of there stuff is just a racket. I also think it's funny they just pawn this stuff off on eBay... it's such a money grab and an asset sale.

 

[byronscott4ever]

Wait for them to be relisted for less

 

[Mark70Z]

Personally I really like a lot of the Vault items, especially the items that are directly related to a normal production card. I do shy away from the newer issues though and may pick up a "blank back" if the price is right, but will not typically pay decent money unless I "really" like the item.

Now, in regard to the question asked, what would I do with negatives that don't relate to an issued card? I would only go for the slide if I liked the picture itself, not just to have it because it came from the Topps Vault. I purchase slides of Brooks that aren't in the Vault and I enjoy them as well, so it would be only if the picture itself is cool. If not, I pass. Typically on the Brooks stuff it goes a bit past the initial $9.99 bid, so if I'd let it go I'm likely not to see the slide/transparency again. There's a couple of his from the 70's that are listed now as a matter of fact; I have't bid on them since I'm not crazy about the shots.

 

[Gwynn545]

If anyone is buying pictures of players "not used by Topps", I can hook you up!! Heck, I'll sell 'em for only $5 each!! I keep all mine on a little website called, "Google Images".

 

[BunchOBull]

Big Frank's slides get listed in their store for $60 a piece, then slowly trickle to eBay with a starting price of $10. They usually sell for $20 or so for the "extras" that weren't used in the printing of a card. Those used for an every day card go for $35ish...I only go for the ones that have the right look or represent the right card...I'd only pay $10 for slides that were from the same shoot at images that were actually used in the production of cards.

I bought a random slide collection (non-Topps) recently and was stoked to find a slide of Thomas taken at nearly the same moment as one of his Beckett covers:

Sometimes you can also find gems like this one...I like it because it looks 3-dimensional.

 

[Therion]

If anyone is buying pictures of players "not used by Topps", I can hook you up!! Heck, I'll sell 'em for only $5 each!! I keep all mine on a little website called, "Google Images".

It's true enough, but don't these come with rights? Like, you own the picture now and could use it legally as long as you also got permission from the MLB or cropped out the logos.

 

[BunchOBull]

It's true enough, but don't these come with rights? Like, you own the picture now and could use it legally as long as you also got permission from the MLB or cropped out the logos.

No rights, but it's not likely anyone would push the issue. You're always free to use the images for editorial purposes though.